Procedure & Quality Assurance Policy for Collating & Awarding Student Grades 2021 v7 - Hwb

Procedure & Quality Assurance Policy for Collating &
        Awarding Student Grades 2021 v7

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Centre Name:                                               Centre Number:
Cardinal Newman Catholic School & Sixth Form Centre

Policy adopted by Board of Governors on (insert date): Policy issued to staff on (insert date):
                                                           12th March

   Statement of Intent

   The purpose of this Policy is:

          To ensure that Centre Determined Grades (CDGs) are conducted fairly, consistently,
           free from bias and effectively within and across departments and maintained
           throughout the process;
          To ensure the operation of effective processes with clear guidelines and support for
           staff;
          To ensure that all staff involved in the processes clearly understand their roles and
           responsibilities;
          To support teachers to take evidence‐based decisions in line with Qualification
           Wales requirements;
          To achieve a high standard of internal quality assurance in the allocation of CDGs;
          To ensure the centre meets its obligations in relation to equality and disability
            legislation;
          To ensure we meet all requirements set out in the Special Regulatory Conditions,
           Joint Council for Qualifications and Awarding Organisation instructions for Summer
           2021 qualifications.

   It will be the responsibility of everyone involved in the generation of Centre Determined
   Grades to read, understand, and implement the policy.

   Preamble

   Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent loss of teaching and learning time, the
   Education Minister, Kirsty Williams, announced that there will be no external exams for
   students in Years 10, 11, 12 & 13 in the summer of 2021. Instead, Centre Determined Grades
   (CDGs) will be awarded by the school. Centre Determined Grades will represent a fair,
   reasonable and carefully considered judgement of the most likely grade that a student would
   have achieved in normal circumstances. It will not be easier or harder to achieve a grade than
   in previous years. Fairness to all students and avoiding unconscious bias and discrimination
   will be at the centre of our thinking and we will ensure we are compliant with Public Sector
   Equality Duty (PSED). It is intended that this policy will be transparent and clearly understood
   by students, parents, staff and governors.

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Assessment Overview

Centre Determined Grades (CDGs) will be awarded by the school for all subjects based on
attainment of the students’ work to date and through the remainder of the academic year.
We will base Centre Determined Grades on students’ work from the adapted specification
content that they have been taught, that which we have evidence for and will not attempt to
indicate potential in a subject. Each grade will be a professional judgement based on the
combined assessment information held for a student and will be a holistic judgement,
underpinned by sufficient evidence of demonstrated attainment across key themes and skills
and not on a single source of evidence. WJEC grade descriptors will be used for consistency.
Students do not have to demonstrate all aspects of the descriptor to receive a particular
grade. Whilst there is no specific content that a student must have demonstrated knowledge
and understanding of to achieve a grade, it is important that there is evidence of attainment
across sufficient breadth of content. Students can achieve the same grade by demonstrating
different combinations of knowledge, skills and understanding. Strengths in some areas may
balance shortcomings in other areas.

Assessment evidence must come from work completed by the student, on adapted
specification content, during the course of study for the qualification. All teachers should
ensure access arrangements are employed and apply reasonable adjustments for students
with additional leaning needs if required. Types of evidence that could contribute to Centre
Determined Grades include internal assessments, NEA elements (including practical
evidence), classwork, homework, past papers provided by WJEC and the recently published
WJEC materials. Assessed work may be completed in the school environment or at home but
all work needs to be the student’s own. The number of pieces and type of evidence required
to support judgements is not prescribed, but there should be sufficient coverage of the
breadth of specification requirements with aspects, at the school’s discretion, covered in
greater depth. There should be coverage of the assessment objectives within or across the
units. Teachers will apply their professional judgement and will decide whether the
knowledge and skills demonstrated meets the usual standard expected for the grade. The
most appropriate grade to award will depend in practice upon the extent to which the learner
has met the assessment objectives overall.

Special consideration applications as they have done in previous years will not apply this
summer. Since evidence is flexible and can be tailored to an individual student according to
the coverage of the specification, instances of special consideration should be limited. We
may be able to select work completed by students where they have been unaffected by
adverse circumstances. Where this is not possible and students have been affected by an
event that is beyond their control and affected their performance in assessments, teachers
should take special consideration into account. Special consideration must relate to student
performance at the time of taking relevant assessments which contribute to the Centre
Determined Grade and due to events outside of their control. These include:

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   Temporary illness or accident/injury but not long term illness, disability or other
       difficulties unless they manifest themselves during assessment times;
      Bereavement but not if bereavement occurred more than 6 months before the
       assessment, unless an anniversary has been reached at the time of the assessment or
       if there are on-going implications e.g. inquest, court case;
      Domestic crisis;
      The centre not implementing previously approved access arrangements

Special consideration will not be awarded for consequences for disobeying internal
regulations and has never been applied for loss in teaching and learning time. Special
consideration requests will be applied before final CDG are awarded.

To summarise, when considering how suitable the evidence is in determining the grade
teachers should consider the following factors:

• Coverage of assessment objectives

• Coverage of content (reference Qualification Assessment Framework)

• Authenticity – how confident are you that it is the student’s own work?

• Level of control – was the assessment taken in timed conditions, was there an opportunity
for redrafting, was it supervised?

• The marking standard – what internal standardisation processes have been applied to
ensure a consistent marking standard?

• The grading standard – is there a notional grade boundary provided for the assessment(s)
which indicates the student’s attainment standard?

• The context in which each piece of evidence was completed – for example, if you know that
a student completed an assessment at home, completed an assessment at home/school
when they were ill etc. Teachers should consider whether the assessment is a fair reflection
of the student’s performance.

While there is no type of evidence that takes precedence, evidence that you believe is an
authentic representation of the student’s performance will influence the overall holistic
judgement.

The school will ensure that students and parents are fully aware of the Centre Determined
Grades process and ‘where they are’ in terms of GCE/GCSE grades before Easter. The first
half of the summer term will be dedicated to further assessment evidence gathering led by
Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioners. The Deputy Head will design and distribute a
template to all Directors of learning/Lead Practitioners (to be submitted before Easter) which
will request a summary plan and checklist for GCSE & A Levels in the build-up to the final

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submission of grades in the summer– see Appendix 1. This template will include the content
and management of the assessment, processes, timeline, arrangements for students with
additional support needs, conditions under which assessments will be undertaken, support
and training for staff and internal moderation and quality assurance. This will ensure that all
teachers are fully informed of the intended plan, understand that the proposed assessments
are valid, reliable and fair and are clear regarding the process of how grades will be awarded.
Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioners will ensure that all assessment evidence is securely
stored and available for review if required.

Each Raising Standard Leader on the Senior Leadership Team will check and quality assure all
assessment plans.

All Centre Determined Grades will be quality assured by Directors of Learning/Lead
Practitioners and the Senior Leadership Team. To give students time to achieve their best
possible grades, their Centre Determined Grades will not be finalised and shared with the
WJEC until the summer term – see CNS Internal Timeline and Student Timeline– Appendix 2.

Procedure

The Exam Officer will ensure that Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioners are aware of WJEC
guidance and materials and ensure they have access to the secure website. The Exam Officer
will also direct staff to the CNS Examination & Appeals and Non-Examination Policies for best
practice when conducting assessments. Each Director of Learning/Lead Practitioner will read
all guidance, create their assessment plan using the template provided and ensure that all of
their team understand the direction of travel and their responsibilities as class teachers. All
WJEC training and guidance materials will be utilised. Whole school training will take place to
ensure consistency across all Areas of Learning. Raising Standards Leaders should quality
assure the department assessment plans before they are shared with teams and have a clear
understanding of how the department will award CDGs and ensure fairness to all students.
All Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioners will record meetings to ensure clarity regarding
standardisation, moderation and ensure all action points are administered. A CNS Moderation
Meeting Record proforma will be used across all Areas of Learning for consistency – see
Appendix 3.

Directors of Learning Key Stage 4 & 5 will collate student lists for special consideration and
inform staff before Centre Determined Grades are completed. The Inclusion Manager will also
ensure that all staff are aware of students’ access arrangements.

Once students have completed all assessments, teachers should complete a Student Decision
Record for their subject – see Appendix 4. Students will also sign a declaration that
assessments are their own work – see Appendix 5.

The Assistant Head responsible for Data will create a template for KS4 & 5 students for
department use which will include internal assessment grades and an overall CDG. Via

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Securing Improvement meetings, each Director of Learning/Lead Practitioner will direct their
staff, ensure that all assessments are clear, ensure that the correct mark scheme(s) are in
place and the best fit grade boundaries are understood and used and applied consistently by
all teachers. To ensure that plagiarism does not take place the Director of Learning/Lead
Practitioner and teachers will meticulously check the authenticity of each student’s work to
minimise the risk of plagiarism. Each Director of Learning/Lead Practitioner will clearly outline
their sampling strategy to include a broad section of students from all learner groups and
from all staff and take the necessary steps if a teacher needs to adjust their decision to bring
them in line with the rest of the team. Class teachers will provide CDGs for their own classes
and ensure access arrangements and special consideration requests are applied if required.

Directors of Learning will analyse all data in the department, highlight queries/students for
discussion and carry out internal moderation for consistency. Class teachers will make final
adjustments to CDGs. Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioners will then carry out a final
‘check’ of the data. It is at this point that Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioners should be
mindful of the distribution of grades awarded to its students in previous series and whether
grades are much higher or lower. Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioners may make further
adjustments if required. This is to ensure final assessment decisions are accurate, reliable and
recorded securely.

Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioners will submit their final data to their Raising Standards
Leader for approval. The RSL will analyse the data, ensure fairness to all students, ask
questions, discuss students etc. Once approved, each Director of Learning/Lead Practitioner
will submit their Centre Determined Grades to the Assistant Head responsible for Data. The
Assistant Head will take complete control of the data and lock it down. The Assistant Head
responsible for Data will ensure compliance with data protection and data processing
regulations.

An SLT meeting will be arranged by the Deputy Head to discuss and check accuracy of
individual students and whole school data. The Headteacher will lead this meeting. All Raising
Standards Leaders should be familiar with the data for the areas they are responsible for and
be able to answer questions. It is at this point that senior staff should be mindful of the
distribution of grades awarded to its students in previous series and whether grades are much
higher or lower. Further adjustments may be required. Any queries should be followed up
immediately after the meeting.

Once the Headteacher provides the approval for whole school data, it will be made available
to all staff in a secure area for a ‘final check’. This is an opportunity for staff to raise any
concerns/queries. All internal appeals should be directed to the Deputy Head outlining clearly
what the issue is. An SLT meeting will be arranged for all internal appeals to be heard. The
Headteacher will decide if an adjustment is required. The Deputy Head will report back to the
member of staff who raised the internal appeal.

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It is at this point, that Centre Determined Grades will be shared with students. The
Headteacher will remind students and parents the Centre Determined Grade process
(evidence that contributed to the award of their grade, access arrangements, reasonable
adjustments and any special consideration) and the procedure for appeals. If there are
appeals or complaints, the Exam Officer will take full responsibility for this liaison and keep a
record of reviews requested by the candidates, log the outcome and inform students of the
review. The Complaints Policy–Procedure can be found on the school website. Any
adjustments in grades will be passed to the Assistant Head responsible for Data. An appeal on
the grounds of the grade being an unreasonable academic judgement and/or a procedural
error can be requested by the student post-results and is carried out by WJEC.

The Assistant Head responsible for Data and the Exam Officer will input the final data for all
year groups on the WJEC secure website. The Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioner will take
responsibility for ‘approving the data’ on the secure website for a final time and submit results
by the required date. If there are any errors, the Directors of Learning/Lead Practitioners
should inform the Assistant Head responsible for Data immediately to rectify them. Directors
of Learning/Lead Practitioners should not make changes themselves.

The Headteacher will sign the Head of Centre declaration and submit it to the WJEC.

Staff training

To ensure fairness to students, it will be necessary to carry out staff training which will be led
and organised by the Assistant Headteacher responsible for Staff Training. All staff should
read the WJEC Assessment Creation Guide in the first instance and later participate in the
Professional Learning programme which will be delivered through seven pre-recorded
sessions (30-45 minutes each) and, where appropriate supporting documentation, with
follow up live webinars (45 minutes each) – for some sessions. See CNS Professional Learning
Programme - Appendix 6.

Evaluation

The school is committed to ensuring that all students are provided with opportunities to make
the best possible progress and grades. We commit ourselves to doing what is outlined in the
policy and aim to ensure fairness to all students.

Documents used to compile this policy can be found here:

      WJEC Assessment Creation Guidance – February 2021
      Qualifications Wales Guidance on alternative arrangements for approved GCSEs, AS
       and A Levels Summer 2021 v2
      WJEC Guide to Centre Policy on Assessment and Quality Assurance processes 2021
      Appendix 3 (Special Consideration) of WJEC Centre policy on Assessment and Quality
       Assurance Processes 2021.

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   Compiled: 9th March 2021

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